Symposium on “Removing counterfeits from e-commerce”
For some years now, counterfeiting and piracy have been growing in sophistication. Similarly, e-commerce represents an increasingly serious challenge for Customs administrations because of the proliferation of small consignments. Although e-commerce has had a revolutionary impact on trade and trade practices, it also presents a significant number of issues at the border.
With a single click, consumers can place orders online and have them delivered within fairly short deadlines. This makes the work of Customs administrations even more difficult, since they do not possess enough data before the arrival of these goods, in contrast to the data available for containers.
The role of Customs risk management, which is intended to facilitate the movement of legitimate goods while preventing the flow of illicit commodities, is now more relevant than ever for ensuring the proper development of e-commerce transactions across borders.
Objective
In cooperation with right holders, the objective of this Symposium is to raise awareness among Customs officers and the general public about the threat of counterfeiting via e-commerce.
The Symposium will present and describe the landscape of illicit goods based on WCO data analysis resulting mainly from Operation STOP III and from seizures by other WCO Members and other stakeholders.
Additionally, the Symposium will provide an opportunity for discussions on the challenges faced by Customs and the private sector with respect to intellectual property right (IPR) enforcement, particularly in the e-commerce domain.
Target audience
- WCO Member administrations and the Global Regional Intelligence Liaison Office (RILO) Network
- International organizations
- Right holders and industry
- Private sector representatives (e-commerce platforms, Customs brokers, express carriers, postal operators)
- Academia
Registration: When registering, participants may choose to attend the Symposium either in person at WCO Headquarters in Brussels or online.